The Glasgow Commonwealth Games will be the focus of Eilish McColgan’s 2014, for obvious reasons.
However, she will not be able to get a taste of a big athletics event in the city ahead of the games.
The Dundee steeplechaser, who has flown out to Kenya for her second African winter training camp of the off-season, would have loved to take part in the Glasgow British International Athletics Match at the Emirates Arena.
However, unlike Eilidh Child and Laura Muir, her event is not on the schedule.
If that changed over the next few weeks, she would be willing to fly back to Scotland earlier than planned.
McColgan is planning to run in more indoor events than she has in past seasons and that includes the World Championships in Poland.
She explained: “The World Indoors are in March. If I’m fit and healthy, I’ll hopefully race in the 3,000-metre flat.
“I’ve never been to a major indoor champs. I enjoy running indoors so that’s something I’d like to do. And it’s a good training tool for the summer.
“I don’t think a 3,000 metres is planned for Glasgow, so I won’t be able to run there, unfortunately, unless that changes.
“It’s a couple of days before I’m due to return from Kenya but I would come back early if there’s a change.”
McColgan’s trip to Kenya a couple of months ago coincided with the end of the local rainy season.
It did not stop her getting valuable preparation under her belt and she is hoping for more of the same second time around.
“Last time, for the first week and a half, it was torrential downpours,” she said.
“It was worse than anything I’ve ever seen before.
“It was still a real benefit though training in altitude and getting to experience the Kenyan system.
“The benefits definitely outweighed the downsides and we were well looked after.
“I had two weeks of doing nothing before that, so it was a bit of a shock to the system to get started from scratch again. It kick-started me again.
“I’ve been in January before and the weather is much better.
“I’ve not had any injury worries for a few months (shin splints) so fingers-crossed, that’s me over them now. Hopefully, that will continue throughout the winter season.”
l There will be a Scottish team in the Glasgow event for the first time.
They will compete against Great Britain and Northern Ireland, USA and a Commonwealth select.
The full Scottish line-up for the Emirates has yet to be announced but Kinross-shire hurdler Child, who will run in the 400 metres, will be joined by European Under-23 1,500 metre bronze medallist Laura Muir (also from Kinross-shire), who will compete in the 800 metres.
Chris O’Hare will return from the United States to compete in the 1,500m, while Jamie Bowie will run in the 400 metres.
Guy Learmonth will take to the track in the rarely-run 600 metres with the aim of breaking the Scottish record set by David Jenkins 40 years ago.